"I really got pissed this week," Byrne wrote. "Fact is the sentence in no way reflected John's feelings about the future Hall of Famer Reed."

The fact is the Ravens didn't want Reed back at that price -- three years, $15 million. He surely would have been welcomed back at the veteran minimum, for example, but Reed never would have accepted that. Now, did the Ravens purposely low-ball him? That depends on whom you believe.